Abstract
Many mystical texts convey insights into the nature of mind that have the potential to assist in the framing of scientific models in psychology and neuroscience. In many cases, however, the insights are concealed within complex, codified symbolic systems, meaning that the reader must engage with the hermeneutic employed by the texts’ authors in order to access the insights. Combining such a hermeneutic approach with that of neurophenomenology can enrich the input from mysticism to science. I exemplify this hermeneutic neurophenomenology through an analysis of states of mystical consciousness as portrayed in the classic of Jewish mysticism, the Zohar. Three distinct mystical states are identified, each of which is understood as being dominated by a specific dimension of consciousness. The normal state of consciousness is dominated by the narrative construction of self. The first mystical state arises as this narrative is attenuated, allowing the intentionality of perception and emotion to become the dominating dimension. The second mystical state comes to the fore as the mystic increasingly identifies with an associational propensity at the core of memory processing. The final mystical state conveys the essential feature of consciousness—phenomenality—with little, if any, intentional content. I explore how the Zohar’s insights into these states can combine with neurocognitive data and thereby enrich our understanding of consciousness.
Highlights
My interest in this article focuses on the mystical states of consciousness portrayed in the central text of Kabbalah, the Zohar, and the ways in which their analysis can advance the science–religion dialogue through this blend of hermeneutics and neurophenomenology
A key feature of our normal state of consciousness is the sense of self, which arises as a narrative construction binding our past into our present [45]
At the same time as depicting the linguistic technique by means of which God is thought to create the world, the Sefer Yetsirah encourages the mystic to emulate the divine, giving rise to esoteric practices involving intensive ways of permuting and combining letters. This kind of mysticism of the Hebrew letters is found in the Zohar, where, as Wolfson points out, it is combined with a more theosophical approach: “In the final analysis, according to the Zohar, language is a completely appropriate medium to attain gnosis of the divine and achieve communion therewith, for, from the kabbalistic perspective, the twenty-two foundational letters of the Hebrew alphabet constitute the very substance of God” ([62], pp. 235–36)
Summary
Francisco Varela’s advocacy of a neurophenomenological approach in the dialogue between science and religion has served as a reference point for many researchers in this area [1] This approach emphasizes that contemplative traditions have given us valuable techniques for training individuals to introspect on their own mental processes, and that the resulting insights have the potential to partner cognitive neuroscience in its quest to understand features of consciousness and the mind [2,3,4]. My interest in this article focuses on the mystical states of consciousness portrayed in the central text of Kabbalah, the Zohar, and the ways in which their analysis can advance the science–religion dialogue through this blend of hermeneutics and neurophenomenology. The style of writing is very much an invitation to engage in the work of mysticism, and comprehension will be limited without the readers having their own experience of the states depicted in the symbolic language on which to draw
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